Jay Faerber: Titans Tease

Writer Jay Faerber recently stopped by the Newsarama World Headquarters to give us a look at upcoming developments with his and penciler Paul Pelletier’s DC series Titans. ‘Titans #26 marks two debuts,’ said Faerber. ‘The debut of JH Williams & Mick Gray (Promethea as our new cover artists, and the debut of Andy Helfer and Harvey Richards as the book’s new editor and assistant editor, respectively. Andy’s been at DC for eons, and his impressive list of credits include spearheading the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League revamp, as well as the John Byrne Superman revamp. Andy’s been overseeing DC’s Paradox Press line for the past couple years, but now he’s getting back into super-heroes – with a vengeance.’

In the spirit of other Helfer-edited revamps of the past, Faerber says giving Titans a ‘distinct focus and direction’ was priority #1 when Helfer came aboard.

‘The team is no longer ‘the team of sidekicks’, as the characters have outgrown that role, and that niche is being filled nicely by Young Justice,’ said the writer. ‘Sure, the Titans are family, but really, all super-teams considering themselves family, so that’s not exactly the most decisive direction for the book. So we set out to come up with a direction that’ll make Titans unique in the DCU. They’re pretty much adults (on the young side, but they’re still adults), but they have the distinction of being the only group of heroes who’ve been trained since a reasonably young age. Sure, Young Justice is going through that training now, but the Titans have completed their training, and it gives them a unique perspective on their approach to super-heroing, and in coming months they’ll be forced to examine their pasts in order to forge their future.

‘To that end, we’re introducing a group of mysterious kids in their early teens, with an agenda that will rock the very foundation of the Titans, and challenge the team to reevaluate where they came from … and where they’re going! Who are these kids? Where did they come from? What do they want? All of these questions will be plaguing the Titans – and readers – in upcoming months.

‘We’re also going to see Epsilon’s story continuing to unfold over the coming year,’ Faerber continued. ‘There’s been a lot of speculation online as to the identity of this character, but I’m not giving up any secrets. He could be a former Titan, he could be a villain, he could be an obscure DC character, or even a brand new character. Anything goes. I can say that in #27 he’s unmasked … but that’s nowhere near the end of the mystery. There are lots of twists and turns ahead, as his storyline becomes entwined with a few other subplots we’ve got going on, like…

• The introduction of DEO Special Agent Dakota Jamison, who’s got a special interest in Epsilon … and an entirely different kind of interest in Arsenal.

• The final fate of Cheshire, who’s been on the loose since #22, and who’s going to face a life-altering moment in Titans #30, which is a special story focusing on Arsenal and Cheshire, and is guest-penciled by Peter Grau.

• The identity of Libby (Liberty Belle) Lawrence’s mysterious fiancé will be revealed. Jesse Quick has been none-too-pleased about her mother’s plans to re-marry, but even her worst fears haven’t prepared her for the man her mother’s in love with.

• Chuck Dixon has been dropping hints about the October Event that he and Scott Beatty have cooked up, and Titans is playing along in that event … in a very big way! When we heard what Chuck and Scott were putting together, it dovetailed perfectly into one of our subplots.

• And Titans Island is going to undergo some major renovations, resulting in an all-new look for the Titans’ HQ.

• Tempest’s marriage to Dolphin will be brought into the forefront in a big way. Fans seem to either love them together, or hate them together, and by the time we’re through, half of those fans will be really happy … and half of them will be really ticked.’

End of titanstower.com transmission. About this author: Bill Walko is an author and artist and the man behind titanstower.com. He's been reading and drawing comics since he was 5 years old and hasn't stopped since. Read more from this author